“I did know about this tweet, as Aurelio called me beforehand. I was surprised by all the media attention over this, as we only chatted over the last three or four days,” Ghirardi told Sky Sport Italia.

“I had given Napoli the priority and there was the option to expand negotiations, but he told me today that he was evaluating different players.

“He effectively freed me up from that promise, because Belfodil has numerous offers and it is also not guaranteed we are going to sell.

“My dream is to sell 50 per cent of him in a co-ownership deal, as I believe he can still improve so much. Clearly scoring 10 goals for Parma and 10 for Milan, Inter or Juventus changes the value of a player.

“In the past Parma had to sell stars to balance the books, whereas now we can afford to only sell half their contracts.”

When asked to name a price-tag, President Ghirardi refused.

“It all depends on the offers. At Christmas I received a bid worth €11m and did not sell, so I won’t declare a price-tag.”

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